Adult Faith Formation Committee
The vision of the Adult Faith Formation Committee is to reach and inspire the diverse adult community of St. Anastasia to recognize and respond to their hunger for a deeper relationship with God and one another, so that they may experience and witness to the love of Christ that is beyond all understanding. (VISION 2006)
As a committee we have studied the Bishops’ Document Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us. We strive to identify the needs of the adults of our parish and provide opportunities for adult faith formation. If you are interested in learning more about the Adult Faith Formation Committee, please contact Regina Simony at extension 120 or by E-Mail.
Journey of Faith
Journey of Faith is a committee seeking to enrich the lives of parishioners through adult faith formation speaking events. Journey of Faith will invite local and national Catholic speakers and authors to our parish to speak on various topics related to our Catholic faith. Free will offerings along with fundraising will provide ongoing support for this ministry. For more information please contact Lynn Duffy by E-Mail.
Endow
ENDOW is a Catholic organization which helps all women, from all walks of life, discover their God-given dignity and femininity through the richness and authenticity of Catholic teaching.
ENDOW utilizes small study groups, conferences, and an online community to cultivate faith, fellowship, and formation. Small ENDOW study groups led by trained facilitators meet weekly or bi-weekly over an eight to ten week period. No homework is required.
The ENDOW curriculum is based on Sacred Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and draws upon well-known Catholic theologians and philosophers, such as St. Thomas Aquinas, Edith Stein, Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI.
The ENDOW curriculum is written for the “women in the pew”. Our belief and experience have told us that once the Church’s teachings are correctly understood, they are easy to embrace. No homework, just two hours a week of stimulating study and conversation that will provide teachings of the Catholic faith. Gather some of your girlfriends and sign up together.
Aquinas for Beginners, Part II: A Tour of the Summa – ENDOW is dedicated to the promotion of a “new feminism” based on the teaching of Pope John Paul II. John Paul II drew much of his understanding of the human person from the work of St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274). As such, it is important for ENDOW to promote the study of these sources, in addition to the documents themselves, as a means to better understand John Paul II’s teaching on the nature and dignity of women. This study guide is devoted to understanding many of the ideas about human beings and our relation to God that St. Thomas Aquinas explores in his most important work, Summa Theologiae.
Pope John Paul II’s Letter to Women
This document was written in preparation for the 1995 United Nations Conference on Women, which was held in Beijing, China. Letter to Women gives the participants a clear understanding of how the Church interacts with the world. It is addressed to “all of the women of the world” and in it, Pope John Paul II gives thanks to all women, reinforces the special gifts of women, and calls to mind all of the contributions women have made throughout history. He also asks for forgiveness from those who may have been harmed by the church in any way. He concludes with a “call to action” on the part of all women to make the world more human, to reverse the “culture of death” and to create a “culture of life.”